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“We were just talking about what a wonderful night we’ve had,” Gabriel explained quickly. Even though he was happy to talk about himself with his brother, there was no way he was going to let their cousin in on the conversation. No matter how much their mother wished for them to get along, there wasn’t any way he would ever allow the man into his circle of trust.
“Well then, it is a good job that it is not over yet!” Barnaby said, slamming his drink back down on the table and reaching for the deck of cards. “Shall we play another?”
Though Gabriel had enjoyed his time at the club, a few hours of gambling was just about as much as he could handle, and with the amount of alcohol he and his brother had already consumed, he was certain that continuing much longer might become dangerous.
“I believe we are about ready to retire for the night,” he said, looking at his brother and relieved to see that Jonathan was nodding in agreement.
“Yes, I am happy to go when you are, brother,” Jonathan stated, draining the last of his relatively new drink.
“Oh, no! Surely not yet!” Barnaby protested. He looked more than a little crestfallen and for a moment Gabriel wondered whether they were about to see a darker side of their cousin. Then he smiled and sighed before adding, “Well, if you insist. I shall not stop you though I do think I should like to remain for a while if the two of you are not opposed.”
“No, of course not,” Gabriel and Jonathan both agreed. In truth, Gabriel would be pleased to not share a carriage back to London with their cousin. After a couple of hours with him, he was more than ready to leave his company.
Saying farewell to those few who had come to accept them into the club, the two brothers left in their carriage with no clue as to what misfortune might befall them. The night was even chillier than either Gabriel or Jonathan had anticipated and they clutched their coats tight around them, both considering the blankets that were kept beneath the seats, their breath coming in billows of cloud before them. Even the gentle rocking of the carriage as they were carried home only seemed to make them colder.
It was Jonathan who finally gave in to the chill, grabbing a blanket before hammering on the roof of the carriage to get the driver's attention.
"Take the nearest shortcut and quicken the pace!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. Gabriel wondered whether the coachman would even hear him over the wind, but then the cracking of the horse whip sounded and the carriage jerked with extra speed. Through the windows of the carriage, Gabriel could feel a draft and so he finally grabbed his own blanket and wrapped it around himself.
"I think perhaps Barnaby was right to stay at the club," Gabriel commented, wondering whether an extra drink might have helped to ward off the cold. Jonathan shrugged, looking as though he half agreed.
"It would have only been colder the longer we left it," he pointed out, and Gabriel sighed deeply, knowing he was likely right. The brothers fell silent save for the chattering of their teeth, and huddled closer together as the journey wore on, seeming to take far longer than it ought to have.
"Where are we?" Gabriel asked when he could take no more of the cold. In response, Jonathan leaned forward and pulled back the curtain of the window nearest him.
"I have no idea," he said a moment later, peering even harder before he added, "It's too dark to make anything out."
Seconds later, Jonathan drew in a sharp inhale that made Gabriel's skin crawl with alarm. The carriage seemed to have picked up yet more speed, and it jerked violently from side to side.
"Forgive me, lords!" yelled the coachman. "We've hit some black ice!"
Gabriel's dread only deepened at the man's words. Black ice had been the reason many a coach toppled over in years past. Unable to bear not knowing what was going on, Gabriel leaned forward himself and looked out of the opposite window.
He was just in time to see the glint of moonlight shining off an overly large and reflective surface, and the sight of it mesmerised him. Then, just as his senses returned to him and he exclaimed, "Isn't that the lake from the skating party?"
He recognised all too well the snowmen that had been left dotted about the place and the snow-laden copse of trees that he had thought of disappearing into with Miss Julia to get a little privacy.
“Well, I never,” Jonathan exclaimed when he caught sight of it. “This isn't much of a shortcut! He's brought us the long way around!”
Gabriel wanted to give the coachman the benefit of the doubt, to tell himself that perhaps the shorter routes might have been impassable in such wintery conditions, and yet he couldn't help but feel a churning in his gut that told him it was more than that.
"Hold on, my lords!" came the coachman's call again and even as he spoke, the carriage was jostled harder, throwing the brothers this way and that until they were battered and bruised.
The sound of panicked horses hit Gabriel's ears moments before Jonathan exclaimed, "We're headed straight for the lake!"
Looking out the window himself, Gabriel realised he was right. It was at that second the horses, clearly struggling with their hooves upon the icy ground, finally managed to turn. But the sound of snapping, splintering wood suggested it was a moment too late.
While the horses ran alongside the bank, the carriage continued onward, almost dragging the back two horses with it. Gabriel was just in time to see the coachman jumping from his bench, back onto the bank as the carriage was toppled sideways onto the frozen lake, throwing both of the brothers one on top of the other.
"Quickly!" Gabriel yelled the moment he heard the ice beginning to creak beneath them. Standing precariously on what used to be the wall of the carriage, Gabriel grabbed his disoriented brother and yanked him to his feet before shoving open the door that was now more of a skylight above their head.
Contending against the curtains that draped down toward them, he shoved his brother from the carriage even as he felt water beginning to soak up his trouser legs. The sound of it rushing into the carriage made him sick to his stomach, and he tried to block it out as he grabbed the edges of the window frame to pull himself up and out.
He was just beginning to feel as though he wouldn't be strong enough, the water now reaching just beneath his knees, when his brother's head appeared above the window. Lying on his stomach against the outer side of the carriage, Jonathan leaned in and offered his hand to pull him up.
Slapping his hand into his brother's palm, Gabriel used it in a final effort to pull himself up. He could feel the frozen water sucking at his legs, threatening to pull him down with the carriage, but just in time, he was yanked free with little time for them to stop and rest. Awkwardly, the two brothers stood on the side of the carriage as it rocked, continuing to sink beneath the ice into the watery black depths beneath.
"We need to jump!" Gabriel yelled over the sucking sounds of the water and the whipping of the freezing cold wind all around them.
